Protected areas, Indigenous lands, and local communities’ territories play a critical role in holding back deforestation, maintaining regional and global climate stability, and – above all – protecting land rights. Nevertheless, these lands are currently threatened by political and economic interests that drive land speculation, agribusiness expansion, and illegal logging and mining, resulting in increasing deforestation rates. Governments are also reassessing and walking back territorial rights legislation.

This chapter discusses the importance and limitations of the five SDG dimensions (People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnership) in the Amazonian context. It also discusses the performance and trends of Amazonian countries in achieving the SDGs.

Two management classifications are the cornerstone of Amazonian conservation: protected areas and Indigenous territories. This chapter focuses on the historical processes, starting in the 1960s, that led to their creation, as well as the contemporary challenges they face and their importance for conservation.

Protected areas, Indigenous lands, and local communities’ territories play a critical role in holding back deforestation, maintaining regional and global climate stability, and – above all – protecting land rights. Nevertheless, these lands are currently threatened by political and economic interests that drive land speculation, agribusiness expansion, and illegal logging and mining, resulting in increasing deforestation rates. Governments are also reassessing and walking back territorial rights legislation.